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While the majority of Hispanics in Congress are Democrats, several of the most prominent figures are members of the Republican party.

Marco Rubio, the Florida senator considered a frontrunner for the party's 2016 nomination, is joined in the Senate by Ted Cruz, a Tea Party insurgent from Texas. Both men are the sons of Cuban immigrants.

Mr Rubio has been among a growing number of conservatives calling for the Republican party to take a new approach towards the Hispanic community, embracing immigration reform and abandoning anti-immigrant rhetoric.

During the presidential election, Mr Romney was widely derided by Hispanic leaders for suggesting that illegal residents would "self-deport" even if they had established lives in the US.

Mr Obama has said that "fixing the immigration system is a top priority" and that he aims to pass laws within a year that would mark out a path to citizenship for the country's 11 million undocumented workers.

Shortly before the election, Mr Obama said the lack of progress on immigration was the "biggest failure" of his first term.

In recent months, the president has used executive powers to ease restrictions for illegal immigrants without the need to pass new laws through Congress.

This week the Department of Homeland Security announced that undocumented workers trying to normalise their status would be able to apply for a visa within the US. Previously, they were forced to return to their home countries to apply, often meaning months or even years of separation from their families.

Mr Obama announced in June that his administration would stop deporting young people who had been brought to the US illegally by their parents as children.

The order, which Mr Obama said would "lift the shadow of deportation from these young people", was lauded by Hispanic activists, many of whom then devoted themselves to the president's re-election effort.